


Metamorphisis

by orphan_account



Category: Little Mix (Band), One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, First Time, M/M, Mpreg, Recreational Drug Use, Teen Pregnancy, Theres a lot of crap communication in here, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-23
Updated: 2013-09-06
Packaged: 2017-12-24 11:07:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/939257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niall Horan is the shyest boy at school. His best and only friend Liam Payne drags him along to a party, and hooks up with the school bad boy Zayn Malik. Six weeks later, he goes to the doctors' office and finds out some interesting news. Now not only is he a freak at his school, but tied not to the boy he likes, Harry Styles, but the one maybe least prepared to be a father.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Flip of a Coin

**Author's Note:**

> This is in a world where some men can get pregnant. And I suck at smut I'm sorry.

Niall was curled up in the corner of the library at school, headphones turned up louder than was probably healthy. He was in the reference section, so nobody came over there at lunch. Nobody who would bother him anyway, like Max George or Tom Parker. The carpet floor was actually pretty comfortable, thank you very much, and he didn't mind being alone and losing himself in a fantasy world.   
So it was really quite a surprise when Liam, who usually ate lunch with his other friends, came up to him, a grin lighting up his face. Niall took off his headphones and looked up expectantly at his best and only friend.   
"Nialler, guess what?" he said in a excited whisper.  
"You won those tickets to Coldplay and you want to take me with you?" Niall guessed half-heartedly.  
"No," Liam answered, quirking an eyebrow at Niall. "There's a huge party going on this weekend."  
"There's a huge party going on every weekend," Niall sighs. It wasn't like he secretly wishes he was invited to them (he totally did).   
"But this one's different."  
"Why's it so special?"  
"'Cause I got invited! Personally!" He pointed to himself in excitement, his grin nearly blinding Niall.  
"Wow, Li, that's great!" Niall said, genuinely excited for his friend. "Who's party?"  
"Louis Tomlinson! He's having one of his legendary house parties and he asked me if I would come."  
"Seriously?" Niall's mouth dropped open in surprise. "But..." Liam wasn't exactly popular, so why would someone as popular as Tommo, captain of the football team, personally invite him?  
There were two kinds of popular kids at the school: the ones who got there by being the biggest dickheads possible and being on the footie team, and the beautiful, genuinely cool ones. Kids like Tom Parker and Max George and Siva Kaneswaren were the bad ones. But kids like Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles, Ed Sheeran, Perrie Edwards, Jade Thirlwall, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, and Jesy Nelson were the cool ones. The ones everyone wanted to sit with at lunchtime, the ones who had the best parties, the ones that a lot kids would sell an arm and a leg to be like.  
Then there were people like Niall. Nobody knew their names, nobody knew their buisness, nobody invited them to parties, because they were nobodies. And most of these nobodies didn't mind their status, but Niall did. He wanted to be popular, and have more than one friend, have something to do on Friday nights other than play video games. If he wasn't so cripplingly shy and painfully awkward, he could've easily been popular just off his looks.  
"Yes, Louis Tomlinson! Can you believe it?"  
"Are you gonna go?"  
"Damn right I'm gonna go. And so are you," he said firmly.  
"Nah, I gotta study." He really doesn't. His grades were practically perfect.   
"Please?" Liam made puppy eyes at his best friend, pouting his lip out. "C'mon, one party won't hurt you. You can be my plus-one!"  
"Ugh, I'll go if you stop bugging me about it." Niall grinned after a few moments: he was going to a party! A real party!  
Not to mention, since Louis Tomlinson was hosting, it was almost a garuntee that his one of his best friends, Harry Styles, was going to be there. The thought made Niall weak at the knees. 

••••

Liam pulled up to the giant house and paused for a moment.  
"Here we are," he said, grinning at Niall, who rolled his eyes and grinned back. Liam parked halfway down the block and they went up to the door together, ignoring the stoners scattered throught the front yard. Leaning close to Niall's ear, Liam said, "Remember, call me if you need anything."  
Niall made to say a snarky remark, but instead all that came out was, "Thanks, Li."  
Inside, people were packed together like sardines in a tin and it took a good ten minutes to make it to the kitchen. Liam started up a conversation with Ed Sheeran and Niall grabbed a beer and slunk over to the corner. With a slight buzz going, he watched people walk by, dance by, until a voice popsped up beside him.  
"Having fun?" Niall turned and almost spat his beer back into his cup. A pair of luminous green eyes met his own and none other than Harry Styles grinned down at him.   
"Uh... I guess so." He flushed bright red as the usual shyness gripped him like a vise.  
"Are you sure? You seem a bit down to me."  
"Parties aren't really my scene," Niall whimpered. Harry nods and nudges Niall with his shoulder.  
"I'm Harry, by the way."  
"I know..." There was a bit of a silence while Niall floundered for his social skills.   
"And you are...?" Harry prompted, adjusting his hair a little bit while he spoke.   
"Uh, Niall. Horan."  
"How come I haven't seen you around school, Niall Horan?" Harry looked genuinely curious, if slightly drunk, so Niall made an effort to give more than one word answers.  
"I'm not around much. This is my first big party, I guess."  
"First party, eh? Lou throws good parties. Who invited you?"  
"Liam Payne. Louis invited him and he invited me."  
"Oh, him. I think I know him. Brown hair, cute face, kind of puppyish?"  
"Yeah."  
"Cool. Well, do me a favor, mate."  
"What?"  
"Have some fun." With another wide Cheshire-Cat grin, he slipped off, leaving Niall to his thoughts. The befuddled boy downed the last of his drink in one gulp and went to grab another. 

••••

As the night went on, the music got louder and louder as everyone pushed the furniture to the walls and turned the whole bottom story of the house into a dance floor. The bass pounded through the walls, and the floor was packed, bodies moving wildly and pressing up against eachother. Niall's corner was burning up, but when he stood up to go find a spot near the back door, he was swept into the mass of people and being thrown around from person to person. Mostly girls danced with him, but after a while he found himself pulled into a pair of strong, masculine arms.  
"Hello beautiful," an unfamiliar voice said in his ear. "How come I don't know your name?" Niall turned around in the boy's arms, his sluggish brain trying to remember the name attached to the strikingly beautiful face. He stood, swaying to the music, hands around Niall's waist, smelling of alchohol and weed and intoxicating cologne. The mysterious bad boy, close friends with all the popular kids, but too reserved and shy to be popular himself. Zack?   
"Um, Niall."  
"Nice name. I'm Zayn," he said absently.   
"Right!" Niall said before he could stop himself.   
The alchohol in Niall's veins and the pounding music made everything a little glowy, a little surreal as Zayn's hands started to roam up and down Niall's torso. Their breath quickened and Niall hooked his fingers through Zayn's belt loops, feeling his half hardness against his hip.   
"Mm, babe?" Zayn murmured in Niall's ear. "D'you wanna head upstairs?"   
"Sure," Niall said, the five drinks speaking for him. Zayn smirked and pulled Niall through the crowd and up the stairs. Crashing through a bedroom door, they colapsed on a bed, Zayn kissing up and down Niall's neck.   
"Babe, you have too many clothes on," Zayn complained when he reached the collar of Niall's shirt. He shoved his hands up under the thin fabric, tracing patterns on Niall's abs. Niall peeled it off without a second though, and Zayn's quickly followed. Niall took a moment to marvel at his statuesque, olive toned torso speckled with tattoos.   
Soon, Niall's pants were off and Zayn had his lips around Niall, making him moan in pleasure. They could've sworn that someone walked in on them at one point, but neither could remember who it was. Zayn's drunk fingers fumbled with the button and zipper on his skinny jeans but he eventually stripped them off. Niall went immeadiately to suck Zayn off, but Zayn had a different idea. With strong hands, he roughly grabbed Niall's hips and pulled him swiftly up against him.   
"Rock me, Niall," he said, smirking and grinding up against Niall's bare bum through his black underwear.  
"Fuck," Niall breathed, and Zayn stripped off the last bit of clothing between them and did exactly as he said.   
They were left panting and gasping, tangled up in a sticky mess, and Zayn realized where they are.   
"Louis's gonna kill me," he slurred.  
"Why?"  
"We just fucked on his bed."  
"Oops," Niall giggled, snuggling into the taller boy.   
"He can clean it up in the morning. Gnight, babe," Zayn said, drifting off to sleep.

••••

Liam had gone, and left a message for Niall with Louis. Niall and Zayn woke up around the same time, hungover and confused. Light streamed in through the window, cutting into their eyes like blades. Zayn rolled over instinctively and fell out of bed, causing Louis to come storming upstairs.  
"Zayn! You couldn't have had your little fucking session somewhere else?" Louis hissed exasperatedly.   
"Ow," Zayn complained. Niall pulled the covers he was under farther so they were up to his nose, hiding from Louis.   
"I've got to sleep in that bed, you know."  
"Yeah, Lou. Sorry. You wouldn't be able to bring me some water, would you?" Louis rolled his eyes and left. Niall tried to get out bed, but his legs and his back felt weak and achey.  
"Ugh... I'm not gonna be able to sit for days," he complained under his breath and Zayn looked at him apologetically.  
"Sorry about that."  
"Don't be. It was great for a first time."  
"That was your first time?" Niall blushed.   
"Yeah."  
"Well then, er. Sorry. I'm glad you liked it...? And fuck, I'm so hungover!" He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands and clumsily got up to close the curtains. 

••••

Next week at school, Harry recognized Niall in the hallway. He grinned and waved cheerfully, and Niall attempted to wave back but ended up crashing into a locker. As he recovered, he missed the quick wave Zayn sent him from across the hallway.  
The next week, Louis asked Liam out. Liam, not knowing how to politely turn him down, had agreed despite his crush on Harry (the fact that he and Niall both liked the same boy was one of the only taboo topics in their friendship). Suprisingly, since their date at the theme park, the two had been stuck together like glue ever since. Liam sitting at the popular table soon became a regular thing, and although Niall was left alone a lot more, he didn't really mind much.  
Two weeks later, Louis threw another party. Liam tried to drag Niall along, but he refused. The week after that, Harry started walking around school with an older blonde named Caroline, sending Niall spinning into cloud of depression. He later learned from Liam that they'd met at Louis's party.  
Although, Harry did occasionally wave at him in the hallway, or ask him something in class, which in Niall's mind was progress.

••••

Niall woke up a week later to a roiling stomach. He rolled out of bed, slapping a hand over his mouth and ran to the bathroom. He emptied the contents of his stomach rapidly into the toilet, tears leaking out of the corners of his eyes. Afterwards, he curled up in a ball on the floor, pressing his forehead to the cool tiles and moaning.  
"Muuuum?" he yelled. She stuck her head into the bathroom and frowned in concern.  
"Are you ok?"   
"Ugh... I feel like shit," he complained.   
"Aw, Nialler..." She came into the bathroom and crouched next to her son, rubbing his back. "Do you feel like you can go to school?"   
"No," he whined. "But I have a huge test in English..."  
"Do you think you can take some medicine and go?"  
"Yeah, I guess so." His mom stood up and picked something out of the cabinet.   
"Here you go," she said, setting a bottle of pills next to him. "Clean up, then take two of these."  
"Ok, thanks mum." She smiled and kissed the top of his head. After she left, he picked himself up and brushed his teeth. He stretches his back and grimaced: he'd been aching for about two weeks now, and he didn't know why. Maybe he'd pulled something. Knocking back two of the little pills, he carefully made his way to his room. By the time he was dressed, the nausea was all but gone.   
Liam picked him up, bearing breakfast muffins.  
"Look, Ni! I brought you your favorite," Liam said, handing him a chocolate-chip banana muffin. "I wanted to say that I'm sorry for not spending very much time with you."  
"Its fine, you and Louis are great together."  
"No-- well, yes-- but that's not my point. If you need me, just call me and I'll be there ASAP. God, that sounded corny."  
"Yes it did. But thanks." Niall grinned over at him and held the muffin up to his mouth. He took a huge bite and gagged, spitting it back out into a paper napkin.   
"Liam, how old is this thing?" Niall rubbed the napkin all over his tongue and took a drink of water from his waterbottle. Liam frowned in confusion.  
"They were just made this morning..." Stopping at a light, Liam reached over and grabbed the muffin out of Niall's hands, taking a big bite. "Tastes fine to me. You ok, mate?"  
"Nah, I think I'm sick. I was feeling pretty nauseus last night and I threw up this morning."  
"That explains it. You sure you should be going to school?"  
"Yeah, I took some medicine. I feel fine. But my back still hurts, and it's feeling pretty clammy. Sorry about the muffin." The light turned and Liam carefully made the turn on the busy street towards school.   
"Niall, I know you don't like doctors..." Liam started, but Niall cut him off with a groan.  
"No!" he whined.   
"...but you seem like you're pretty sick."   
"I'll be fine, don't worry about me." Liam frowned and sighed.  
"Alright, but if your still sick by Thursday, I'm dragging you by your ear to the doctor's," Liam threatened.  
"Fine."

••••

The sickening nausea came back in thrid period, and Niall put his head down on the desk, clutching at his stomach. Without raising his head, he put his hand in the air. The teacher was lecturing and didn't notice. A minute later, his stomach rolled threateningly and he bolted up and out the door, calling "Excuse me!" out behind him. He sprinted to the boys bathroom halfway down the hall, hand pressed firmly to his mouth. He didn't bother to lock the stall behind him as he collapsed to his knees and vomited into the filthy school toilet. Coughing, he straightened up and wiped his mouth with a peice of tissue and pushed the door open.  
He stops in his tracks when he sees who's staring at him. "Niall?"  
"Harry! Uh..." Niall looks at the ground, blushing crimson.   
"Are you ok? You sounded like you were, y'know... Being sick," Harry said with concern.  
"I'm fine! Oh my god I'm sorry," he replied, cringing.  
"No it's fine, but do you need a ride home or something?" Harry came closer and put a hand on Niall's back, rubbing small soothing circles. The touch sent little electric flutters through Niall's body.  
"No, really. I'm ok." Niall shrugged off Harry's hand and went to the sink to rinse his mouth out.   
"If your sure..." Harry left Niall leaning on the sink, rubbing water on the back of his neck.   
He spotted something in the cloudy mirror and leaned closer. Much to his despair, his forehead was starting to break out in little bumps. "No, not again!" he complained out loud. He rubbed at them a little bit with the pad of his finger as if trying to make them go away, then gave up and left the bathroom sullenly. When he returned, the teacher looked at him disapprovingly but didn't say anything.   
Lunch time rolled around and Niall went to find Liam. He leaned against Liam's locker, rubbing his tired eyes.   
"Hey Ni, you okay?" Liam said, coming up next to his friend.  
"No," Niall moaned. "I was sick again in third period."  
"Niall... If not for your own good, stay home so everyone else doesn't catch what you've got," Liam reasons.   
"I wish I could... English test today, remember?"  
"You can make it up, it's not too hard."   
"Nah, I'm fine now. Really, I am," Niall reassured him.  
"Didn't seem like it a moment ago," Liam muttered, but he let it go. 

••••

It was early Thursday morning, and Niall was camped out in the bathroom with a glass of water and a pillow. Nobody else was up at 4:00 am on a weekday, so as soon as he'd woken up nauseus, he'd dragged himself to the bathroom as quietly as he could.   
After an hour or so of alternating pressing himself to the cold, tiled floor and being sick into the toilet, his mother woke up and found him there.   
"Nialler, sweetie, I think it's time to go to the doctors," she said reluctantly.   
"No, mum, I hate the doctors! It smells bad in there," he protested.  
"You've been sick for a week--"  
"Only four days."  
"BUT, you've been complaining for a week and a half." Niall had no answer to this so he just laid back down on the floor.  
"Mmkay, fine," he said after a minute. "Would you bring me my mobile please?" She left and came back a moment later with Niall's iPhone. He typed out a quick text to Liam telling him not to come pick him up, then tried to take a quick nap on the floor while his mother called the doctor's office.

••••

Zayn hestitantly approached Liam in the hallway.   
"Um... Liam, right?" Zayn said, scratching the back of his neck.  
"Yeah. Zayn, right?" Liam knew Zayn's name already, he was just being polite. Of course he knew the name of his best friends first and only hook up.  
"Yeah. Are you friends with Niall?"  
"Mhm." Liam opened his locker and started  
putting his stuff in.  
"Is--is he ok? Harry said was sick yesterday and he, uh, wasn't in chem." Zayn blushed a little bit. He didn't know why he had been so obsessed with the boy, but also so unable to talk to him.   
"He's at the doctors. Should I tell him you were asking about him?"   
"No! I mean-- it's fine..."

••••

"Niall Horan?" A nurse called into the waiting room of the doctors' office.   
"Good luck, Nialler," his mom said as he got up gingerly, following the nurse to a free room.   
"Mr. Horan, please sit here." The nurse indicated a paper-covered table and Niall sat, trying to move as little as possible. "My name's Sara. I'm gonna ask you a few questions alright? Just for background information. So, any allergies?"  
"Pollen."  
"Anything else?"   
"No."  
"Have you had a flu shot this year?"  
"Yeah, I think so."  
"Have you been sexually active?"  
"Well... Not recently." He blushed bright pink.  
"How long ago was the last time you had intercourse?"  
"A month and half ago... Why?"  
"A risk of STIs. Do you have a job?"  
"Nope."  
"Alright, that should be enough for now. What are your symtoms?"  
"Throwing up everything I eat, my back and my feet hurt like a bitch, I'm tired all the time, and I feel really sticky and clammy. Oh, and banana muffins don't taste good anymore." The nurse raised an eyebrow and widened her eyes slightly and wrote it all down.   
"Hm. Well, doctor will be here in a few minutes. Dustbin is right there if you feel like your gonna be sick again." Niall nodded. He wondered why she reacted like that to his symptoms. Suddenly, it occursd to him: what if he had some rare lethal disease? What if he only had two weeks left to live? He started freaking out and hyperventilating just as his doctor walked in.   
"Hello Ni--"  
"Please tell me I don't have some rare and lethal disease because the nurse looked like she was suspicious and I don't wanna die!" he babbled, bringing his hands to his face and starting to cry. The doctor, Dr. Molena, looks at him in surprise.  
"Niall, calm down!" He sniffled and she went to pat his back. "I'm sure your fine. You probably just have a virus."  
"L-like a bad one?"  
"Like the flu."  
"Oh." He rested his hands on his stomach subconciously, and the doctor immeadiately picked up on the motion. She checked her tablet and scrolled through the notes the nurse gave her.  
"I'm just gonna do a few blood tests. The nurse did in fact have an interesting hunch-- NOT a horrible disease!" she said quickly before Niall could freak out again. "But Sara's very good and rarely wrong. Just one last question, when you were last sexually active, was it a boy? That you were intimate with?"  
"Uh." Niall started glowing red. "Don't tell my mom please. She doesn't know I like boys."  
"Of course not. Thank you. Now let's go to the other room to draw some blood." She led him to a room with computers, a stool, and... Needles. Niall pales.   
"N-needles..." he whimpered weakly.  
"Just don't look at them." Dr. Molena sat him down on the stool and he closed his eyes while she prepped the needle.  
After she took takes blood and Niall was almost sick again, he went back to the little room and lied down on the paper-covered bed. Dr. Molena did a quick full physical while the blood test results were sent to her tablet. When she finally recieved them, she scrolled through and gasps, then immeadiately tried to cover it up with a poker face.  
"What? What is it?" Niall felt the blood drain out of his face and his heart thumped in his ears.   
"You... We have to do a few more tests. This is very unusual."  
"More tests? What's unusual?"  
"I'm going to go speak to your mother and Sara will set up the other tests." She walked out with what's supposed to be a reassuring smile, leaving Niall on the edge of panic. With shaking hands, he pulled out his mobile and typed out a text to Liam. 'They found something weird. Doing more tests.' Almost immeadiately, Liam replied.   
'R u ok?'  
'NO I AM NOT OK I'M TERRIFIED'  
'Ur gonna be fine. Its probably nothing.'  
'What if it's some lethal disease?!?!?!?'  
'It's not, I kno it. Ur fine. I'm still in class, call me afterschool'  
'K. Sorry' Niall put the phone on the table next to him and laid down to calm his stomach. A minute later, a text from a random number comes in.  
'Niall? U ok?' Niall stares at it and a moment later another comes in from the same number. 'It's Harry btw'  
'Hi Harry I'm fine' Niall types after a moment.   
'Liam said u were at the doctors'  
'Yea. They don't kno what I have but I'm fine.'  
'K, txt if you need smthing. My mum made some soup yesterday if u want any' Niall smiled at Harry's offer.  
'Thx, thts realy nice of u :) ' He didn't get a reply after that, but he felt flattered that Harry'd thought to ask.  
Sara finally walked in, typing something into her tablet. "Ready Niall?"  
"No. Let's get it over with," he moaned.

••••

Niall was dozing off on the cot when Dr. Molena and his mother came in.   
"So, Niall, we've got some results," Dr. Molena said once Niall is fully awake.   
"Oh god," he breathed, praying that it wasn't bad.  
"It seems that Sara's hunch was correct. It's a bit... Well, very rare, but not lethal. It might cause some complictions though, and could be dangerous," she warned and Niall choked on air.  
"Am I sick? What do you mean dangerous?"  
"Well, it seems that you are a special case. Did you know that about one in ten million males is born with the ability to bear children?"  
"Excuse me?" Niall spluttered, his train of thought completely derailed.  
"And only about one in six of those who have the abilty can actually complete the pregnancy without a miscarriage?"  
"I don't like where this is going," Niall groaeds. His mother looked at him tight-lipped and solemn.  
"And it seems from all of the tests that you are carrying a child."  
"Aw, SHIT!" Niall yelled, putting his face in his hands and resisting taking a swing at the sickeningly cheerful walls. "I don't want it!"  
"Honey... I know that would be easier," his mom started, but he held up a hand and cut her off.   
"Mom, I can't deal with this in my life."  
"But the thing is, while abortions aren't risk-free for women, for men they can be deadly," Dr. Molena explained. "They aren't offered anymore."  
"Fine. I'll have the damn baby and put it up for adoption."  
"Nialler... Do you know who the er, other father is?" his mom said softly. His mouth popped open.   
"Shit. Oh, bloody fucking hell," he cursed. "Yeah. It's a guy at my school."  
"A friend of yours?"  
"No. Look, now that we know what's wrong, can I go back home? I don't like it in here. Maybe I'll get lucky and it'll miscarriage anyway." Niall stood up and made for the door, but Dr. Molena's arm blocked his exit.   
"Male miscarriages are also potentially dangerous," she said carefully. "About half are similar to female miscarriage, but there is a large chance of internal bleeding and severe depression afterwards."  
"Well what the actual fuck do I do then?" Niall asked desperately, tears forming in of his eyes.  
"Take care of your baby and hope for the best." 

••••

The final bell rang and Liam picked up his stuff to leave. His back pocket buzzed and he looked at the screen to see his favorite picture of him and Niall in their swim trunks at the beach.   
"Hey Nialler," he said, bracing himself slightly.  
"Liam, can you come over?"  
"I don't know--"  
"I'm not contagious, it's not a virus or anything like that," he said in a dead voice that scared Liam more than any horror movie.  
"I'll be over in a few minutes." Niall hung up and Liam rushed to his car and sped to Niall's house. A shocked looking Maura answered the door and gestured him in without a word. He went upstairs and found Niall laying in his bed, trying not to cry. Liam sat down next to him and started to pet his hair.  
"Nialler? What's wrong?"  
"Liam, did you know that one in sixty million men bears children?" he says flatly.  
"Um... No, I did not know that, Ni."  
"Well it's true."  
"Niall..." Liam's hand froze in Niall's hair. "You're not--"  
"I am!" Niall moaned, turning on his side and curling into Liam's leg. "And it gets worse! The only person I've ever fucked is Zayn Malik, the sourwolf!" Niall wailed.   
"Are you gonna tell him?"  
"No!" Niall's phone buzzed and another unknown number showed up.  
Niall threw his phone on the floor and took a deep breath while Liam tried to process the whole situation.  
"You need to tell him."  
"No, I don't." Liam rolled his eyes.   
"Eventually, you do. Sorry," Liam said firmly. "What did the doctor say?"   
"They gave me stuff to help with morning sickness, and these." Niall pointed to the ginger candies on his bedside table.   
"Does the school know?" Niall nodded and reached over to put ginger candy on his tongue.  
"I'm not gonna be sick on you, would you cuddle with me?" Niall asked, pouting and looking at Liam vulnerably.  
"Sure." Liam kicked off his shoes and socks and dropped his jacket on the desk chair, then curled up around Niall. They fell asleep there until Maura came in at 8:30 to inform Liam that his parents had called, wondering where he was. 

••••

Niall was back to school on Monday, with the special privilage of being able to leave class to be sick when ever he needed to. In his backpack was a bag of ginger candies and a bottle of ginger ale. In chemistry, Zayn abandoned his usual seat with Louis and slid into the empty chair on Niall's right.  
"Niall, you don't look so great."  
"Thanks," he said dryly.  
"I don't mean it like that." Zayn frowned.   
The bell rang and Zayn went back to sit with Louis.   
Niall's stomach rolled again, and he sucked on another ginger candy. 

••••

Liam was still in awe about the fact that somehow, he was dating one of the most beautiful boys at school. How he'd never seen that before was beyond him. Louis was everything he could've asked for, and more.   
At first, it had seemed so simple: have Harry and Niall get to know eachother, they go out, they fall in love, everyone lives happily ever after and rides off into the sunset. Zayn entering the picture caused a huge problem with his plans. Not that Liam hated Zayn, or anything, but now that Niall was pregnant with Zayn's child, it meant that either Harry and Niall would have to deal with the kid, which would be preferable to Niall; Zayn and Niall would have to deal with the kid; or Niall would have to deal with the kid without a partner. Not to mention that now, Cara was in the picture (seeing as Harry had dumped Caroline).   
"Payno?" Louis waved a hand in front of Liam's face, breaking him from his tangled thoughts. "You've been out of it for the past five minutes. You ok?"  
Liam shook his head to clear his mind, then nodded and smiled at his boyfriend. "Yeah, I'm fine. There's just a lot going on right now."   
"Tell me?" Louis gave a small smile, his blue eyes sparklig kindly.  
"I can't, I'm sorry. It's not my place to tell."  
"I understand. You up for movie night tonight? My house. I have popcorn and Netflix." He grinned a toothy grin and poked Liam in the side.   
"Definitely." Liam went in for a quick kiss and they parted ways for their next class.  
As he was about to go inside the classroom, he spotted Zayn across the hallway. He hurried forward and grabbed Zayn's arm.  
"Hey, Zayn?"  
"Get off," he hissed, deadly cold.  
"Sorry." Liam quickly retracted his arm. "I, erm. Niall needs to talk to you. He'll be in the library afterschool. It's really important. Tell him that if he doesn't tell you, I will." Zayn tried to hide his excitement and confusion that he now had an excuse to talk to the elusive boy and merely nodded.

••••

Niall had his head resting on his math textbook at the table in the back of the library, snoring lightly. Zayn carefully slid into the chair beside Niall and shook his shoulder.   
"Hmm?" Niall lifted his head groggily and blinked the sleep out of his eyes.   
"Hey. Um, Liam said you needed to talk to me?" Niall raised an eyebrow.  
"Did he?"  
"He also said something about how if you don't tell me, he will." Niall put his head back down on the book and growled.  
"Mmkay, meet me after school at Starbucks," he said after a bit. Zayn nodded and silently left.  
After school, Niall purposefully avoided Liam and walked slowly down to the Starbucks three blocks away. Coffee seemed like a bad idea, so he bought a hot chocolate and sat at a small table near the window. He put his headphones in and switched on some chill-out music, then wrapped his jacket tighter around him and waited.  
Zayn came in twenty minutes later, arm in arm with Jesy Nelson. She laughed at something he said and they got in the short line to order drinks. Niall heard Jesy order a caramel mocha, then order a coffee for Zayn. They leaned against the counter by the pick-up area, chatting some more and showing eachother stuff on their phones. Jesy's name was called and she picks up the drinks before hugging Zayn goodbye and kissing him on the cheek and walking out of the shop. He scanned the room and spotted Niall, then wove through the people to join him.  
"Hi." Niall smiled halfheartedly and gestured for Zayn to sit down.   
"'S she your girlfriend?" He asked, fidgeting with his empty cup.  
"Jesy? No. Me and her and Perrie and Louis have known eachother since second grade. We aren't together." Niall nodded and stared at the table.  
"Um, so about that thing I have to tell you..."  
"Yeah?"  
"So, er, I'm pregnant."  
"Very funny, Niall," Zayn said with a smirk. "Seriously, what did you need to tell me?"  
"No, I'm not kidding." Zayn rolled his eyes.  
"Ok, if you're not going to tell me, I'm going to go." Niall held a hand up for Zayn to wait, and dug through his bag for the papers the doctor gave him. He pulled out the packet and handed it soundlessly to Zayn. Niall watched as he read the information, his eyes getting bigger and bigger as he read on. Niall bit his lip as Zayn looked up.   
"If this is a fucking joke, it's not funny," Zayn snarled.  
"Sorry."  
"You fucking freak!" Zayn spat. He shoved his chair back and stormed out of the shop, knocking his coffee cup to the floor.  
Niall stared after him in dismay as lukewarm coffee soaked into his shoe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg i didnt realize the texts didnt show up i fixed it sorry


	2. Discordant Melody

"Perrie, I don't know what to do!" Zayn ranted, collapsing on his friend's bed.  
"Don't ask me, I've got no idea." She opened a bag of crisps and handed it to Zayn. "Is he keeping it?"  
"I don't know! I left before he could tell me anything else!"  
"Well that was a dumb move," Perrie remarked. "And don't eat too many of those: you'll make yourself sick."  
"I don't care," he moaned, stuffing more salty, greasy crisps in his mouth.  
"Do you wanna stay over here tonight? My parents won't be home so we can watch whatever you want." Zayn nodded and burrowed under her covers, taking up the whole bed. She put her stuff on her desk and opened up her laptop to type an essay.  
Later, they watched a funny American movie and Zayn cried on Perrie's lap about the situation. Eventually, when he fell asleep, she took his phone and texted Niall.  
'Hello Niall, this is Perrie Edwards (I'm using Zayn's phone). He told me about you and I was wondering if you were going to keep the baby. -P' She knew Zayn would kill her, but it was always better to know. A moment later, Niall replied.  
'Hi Perrie I'm keeping the baby because abortions are dangerous for men. It's going up for adoption straight after that.' Perrie frowned and wondered what on earth she would do in his position.  
'Okay, sorry if I was prying. Zayn's at my house and he's a little overwhelmed.'  
'Zayn can go fuck himself. He left when I told him.'   
'Go easy on him. He's just shocked and confused.'  
'Whatever. I don't need him anyway.'

••••

Niall made his mom stay home while he went for an ultrasound. Liam, however, had taken it upon himself to be there for Niall, especially since he felt somewhat responsible for Zayn exploding at Niall, so he came despite Niall's protests.   
In the waiting room, Liam played a game on his iPhone while Niall dozed on his shoulder. Finally, Niall was called in and they were led to a room with a cot and a machine in front of it. Niall laid down and immediately curled up and fell asleep. The past few days, he had been sleeping like crazy during the day, but almost never during the night. The nausea was worse at night, and ginger didn't work very well anymore. Not to mention, his back pain had been slowly getting worse as well. Liam watched his best friend sleep for a little while, then sent a quick text to Maura as an update.  
"Knock, knock," someone chirped from the doorway.   
"Hi," Liam said, reaching out a hand to shake.   
"Hello, I'm Dr. Davidson. You are...?"  
"Liam Payne. I'm Niall's friend."  
"Good to meet you, Liam. Are you the father?"  
"No. Just here for support."  
"Well, will you wake him, or shall I?" Liam gently roused a grumpy and agitated Niall with a few soft words and a hand on his hair.   
"What the bloody hell--? Oh."  
"Hello Mr. Horan."  
"Don't call me that." Niall was feeling extremely pissy and he didn't want to put up with irritating surnames right now. Dr. Davidson explained how the ultrasound worked and Niall obediently pulled up his shirt, complaining the whole time. Cool gel was smeared over his flat stomach (his six pack was gone, and he really wasn't happy about it, but at least he wasn't showing yet).   
A wand was placed on his lower stomach and a blurry image showed up. "What am I supposed to be looking at?" Niall asked.  
"Wait for it..." Moving the wand slightly, a new picture came onto the screen.  
"It looks like a dot," Niall said blankly.  
"At seven weeks, it has just started to develop arms and legs, and if we could look at it with an actual camera, it looks a little like an amphibian," Dr. Davidson explained.   
"How big is it right now?" Liam asked. Dr. Davidson held her fingers about a centimeter apart. "Huh. Tiny."  
"Well, it was just a single celled organism a few weeks ago."  
"Wait, so I don't know exactly how male pregnancies work," Niall said, still staring at the ultrasound. It was hard for him to process that the baby on the screen is inside him. It felt like seeing the tape of someone elses baby, not his. Not a little tiny Niall.  
"We still don't know how male pregnancies work, exactly. Some strange horomone ratio or genetic quirk causes it, and there's no way to predict it during childhood. It sort of just... Happens, I guess. All the studies done have come up with "  
Niall didn't say anything for the remainder of the visit. He wasn't sure of his ability to say anything without crying.  
Liam did all the talking for him, and they were out of there before long. 

••••

Niall got another unexpected visitor in the library during lunch time. He recognized her big black hair, braided on the sides and impeccable fashion sense. Leigh-Anne Pinnock.   
"Hey, are you Niall?" she asked with a wide smile.   
"Yeah."  
"I'm Leigh. My friend Perrie needs to talk to you. Come with me?" She held out her hands to help him up off the rug.   
"Er..."  
"C'mon, she says it's important," Leigh-Anne said. "You can come sit with us, it'll be great. Zayn says you're nice."  
"If Zayn's gonna be there, I'll stay here. Sorry," he hissed.   
"What've you got against Zayn?" Leigh-Anne said defensively, frowning and letting her hands drop.   
"Nothing. He just... It's hard to explain."   
"Well alright then. But she'll probably just come up here."  
"Thats fine. Sorry for making you go to all this trouble."  
"No no, it's fine. But don't say I didn't warn you," she said, half smiling again. "Bye now." She waved and walked off.   
Five minutes later, Perrie came up and sat next to him without a word. Niall glanced up at her from under his lashes, but kept reading.   
"You were in choir a few years ago, weren't you?" She said after a while. He nodded. "I was too. I knew I remembered you from somewhere. Why'd you stop?"  
"Wasn't into it anymore."  
"Me too. Try my hand at singing solo somewhere. I did a few open mic nights recently. It was good fun." Niall hummed in agreement. "By the way, Zayn told me everything."  
"I know. You told me over text."  
"Oh that's right. But how are you?"  
"Alright, I suppose. As alright as a teenage, pregnant male can be. Morning sickness is a bitch." Perrie laughed.   
"I'd bet it is. So... Zayn wants to talk about it. Do you wanna talk to him, or should I tell him to bug off?"  
"I'll talk to him," Niall said after a minute. "Was... Was he telling you guys about me? Leigh-Anne said he said I was nice."  
"Oh, he goes on and on. He's a bit infatuated if you ask me," she said lightly. Niall wasn't really sure how to take this, so he just sat there. "Wait here, I'll go get Zayn." She was gone for three minutes or so, then returned with an awkward Zayn. Niall raised an eyebrow: Zayn Malik was the king of cool.   
"Uh... Hey Niall." Niall stared at him for a while.   
"Ok, are you two gonna talk, or have I got to be a mediator here?" Perrie said impatiently.  
"Sorry Pez. You can leave us alone. Jade said something about a camping trip next weekend, you might want to get in on that," Zayn said, and Perrie left after squeezing his arm reassuringly. "So, um... I'm sorry. I flipped out."  
“You called me a freak!” Niall accused.  
“I-- I said I was sorry!” he said defensively.  
“No you’re not!” Niall spat. “You don’t want this kid, why do you care?!”  
“Yeah, well maybe I care about you, not the stupid fetus!”   
This stopped Niall in his tracks. “What?”  
“You heard me,” Zayn mumbled, embarrassed.  
“Don’t expect me to forgive you.”  
“I don’t.” There was a few minutes of silence.  
"I got an ultrasound. Your ‘stupid’ baby looks like a dot," Niall said emotionlessly.   
"Thats... Um... Can we just be friends? Please?"  
"You ran out on me."  
"I know. I'm an arse. We’ve been through this. Please Niall." Niall studied Zayn's face, trying to make the best decision.  
"Maybe. We could try. But do you really want to deal with this? Can you handle it?"  
"Yes. I can deal with it. I won't walk out on you again." Niall sighed in relief and smiled up at the beautiful boy.  
“Promise?”  
“Pinky swear.” He tentatively held out a pinky, and Niall took it with his own little finger.  
"Thank you, Zayn."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you like it :) more up sometime soon! Comment, kudos n stuff is appreciated <3

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me what you think so faaaarrrr :)


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